Science, Technology, and Public Policy

As a Predoctoral Research Fellow at the Belfer Center’s Environment and Natural Resources Program and Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, Lydia Zemke has spent the last two years studying climate finance in developing countries. As she rounds out her time at the Belfer Center, Zemke she reflects on her research interests, her experience conducting fieldwork in Kenya and Costa Rica, and her advice for other early-career researchers. 

This brief examines the national challenges related to deploying and scaling infrastructure to transport CO₂ from capture sites to storage or utilization sites at a scale consistent with achieving net-zero by 2050.

An excerpt from an interview with Fran Ulmer, Senior Fellow with the Belfer Center’s Arctic Initiative, explains what we might expect from the transition to Norwegian leadership, as well as possible paths forward for the Arctic Council and Arctic governance more broadly. The interview was conducted by Belfer Center Communications and Outreach Specialist Elizabeth Hanlon. 

Arctic Initiative Co-Director John Holdren and Senior Fellow Fran Ulmer call for increased U.S.-Canadian cooperation on geopolitical challenges around relations with Russia and China as well as the critical problems being imposed by climate change on the North American Arctic.

This article analyzes potential courses of action that Russia and the United States could pursue, jointly or separately, to protect the Bering Strait Region from the adverse effects of growing shipping.

The attached document contains April 2022 updates to our database on U.S. government investments in energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment (ERD3) through the Department of Energy.

This paper focuses on the Russian claims regarding the Northern Sea Route that could be deemed valid targets for a Freedom of Navigation Operation by the United States. The analysis shows suggests that for the time being the United States will likely set aside plans for a FONOP in the Russian Arctic waters.

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is very likely to be a key technology for achieving the Biden administration's goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. But absent regulation requiring its use, CCUS needs to become more economical in order for deployment in the United States to expand significantly.

Arctic Data Stories will give students with non-technical backgrounds the chance to explore geospatial data and policy, guided by experts from the Arctic Initiative, the Woodwell Climate Research Center, and Esri. The workshop covers topics in data visualization, policy, and ArcGIS software and culminates with student presentations on Arctic-specific policy challenges. Sessions will be held on Fridays from 12–2 p.m. from February 11 to March 11, 2022, on Zoom. We will host a final workshop at the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Falmouth, MA on March 26 and 27. Participants must commit to attending all sessions when applying. Students wishing to participate should fill out the form HERE.

A new study from the University of Leeds mostly confirmed previous estimates with greater precision, but it also found more variability than is currently accounted for in global climate models, writes Cristine Russell.